Google Drops Support For Noarchive Meta Tag Directive

Oct 7, 2024 - 7:11 am 1 by

Google Paper Stack

With Google removing the cache operator from its search service, Google has stopped supporting the noarchive directive in Google Search. The directive, the noarchive meta tag, would tell Google not to keep a cache copy of your page. Since Google doesn't have a cache anymore, there is no need for Google to support this directive.

It use to tell Google to "not show a cached link in search results." Google wrote back then, "If you don't specify this rule, Google may generate a cached page and users may access it through the search results."

Google kept a historical reference to this meta tag, moving it to the history corner of the documentation. Here is a screenshot of that section:

Google Noarchive Doc New

Here is what it showed before this change:

Google Noarchive Doc Old

There was a lot of controversy on if using this would hurt your SEO - in which Google said it would not.

Google wrote about this new change, "The cached link feature is no longer available in Google Search results. You don't need to remove the meta tag, as other search engines and services may be using it."

Forum discussion at X.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 31, 2025

Mar 31, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google March 2025 Core Update Impact Multiple Poll Results

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google News

Google To Pay $100 Million To Settle Old Ad Lawsuit On Clicks Outside Geo Target

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google To Allow Double Serving Ads In Different Ad Locations On Same Page

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google News Fully Transitioned To Automatically Generated Publication Pages

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Bug Resurfacing Old Fake Removed Reviews

Mar 31, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Bird House Wall